Project Background

Energy sources for peak power plant

      Peak power plants require a source of available or stored energy to be able to generate electricity at very short notice.  Traditionally, peak power plants have used fossil fuels as an energy store, such as diesel or gas-powered plants. Other types, such as pumped storage hydro-electric power plants, take electricity and convert it to another form of energy, and store the energy, until the plant is called upon to convert it back to electricity to supply to the grid.
       There are numerous types of peak power plant, and energy storage, which are cost-effective in current circumstances.  This project is investigating a novel, hydrogen-based peak power plant, an immature technology which does not yet exist at scale required.
       It is not expected that such a plant would be cost-effective at present. This project seeks to investigate if there are possible future circumstances in which this type of plant may be viable.

Using hydrogen as a mean of storage [1,2]

        Hydrogen is the simplest element, and the most abundant element in the universe. Hydrogen gas (H2), consists of two atoms joined together in a covalent bond.  It is a non-metallic element with atomic number of 1. [1]

        Hydrogen is a source of clean energy, with heat and water as its only by-products, when oxidised in a fuel cell.  It has a specific energy of 141 kJ/g, which is three times that of gasoline [1,3]. When hydrogen is passed through a fuel cell, electricity is generated, which is part of the concept of this project.

        There are advantages and challenges in using a system based on hydrogen, outlined below.              
Picture
Advantages & Challenges in using hydrogen-based system (adapted from Godula-Jopek [1])

A modular peak power plant

        This project is investigating a small scale, modular approach, to providing power.  An individual unit, or module size of plant, is to be selected. The size of an individual unit plant, or module, size may be fairly modest, such as having a capacity to deliver a few MW for an hour or so.
        However, it is envisaged that the units, or modules, could be replicated, possibly many times, if demand for power would require multiple units, hence the term modular.

        A modular approach, compared to traditional large bespoke power stations, can be a cost-effective and relatively quick approach to constructing additional plant. It also gives advantages of flexibility in where such plants could be located.
[1]            A. Godula-Jopek, Introduction.  In: "Hydrogen production by electrolysis" ed. A. Godula-Jopek. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH, 2014.
[2]            A. Godula-Jopek, Hydrogen storage options including constraints and challenges.  In: "Hydrogen production by electrolysis", ed. A. Godula-Jopek. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley - VCH, 2014.
[3]            D. Prakash and Global Energy Network Institute (GENI). (2011). Hydrogen for large scale energy generation in the USA.
Available: http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/research/hydrogen-for-large-scale-electricity/Hydrogen%20for%20Large-scale%20Electricity%20Generation%20in%20USA.pdf